• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.18-27
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• 2009

This study was conducted to examine the effect of wind on the circulation of seawater in Gamak Bay, which contains numerous farms for fish and shellfish but suffers a significant loss by fisheries nearly annually from harmful algal blooms. In numerical experiments with a simplified bathymetry for Gamak Bay, the wind in summer appeared to more strongly influence the east-westward flow than the south-northward flow. In winter, this trend was nearly similar to the summer but seemed to have a greater effect on the flow at the north-west of the bay than the flow at the south mouth of the bay. On the other hand, in numerical experiments with a realistic bathymetry for Gamak Bay, the wind in summer appeared to more strongly influence the east-westward flow than the south-northward flow. Furthermore, the effect of the wind was stronger at the south mouth of the bay than at the north-west of the bay. In contrast, the wind in winter affected the east-westward flow more strongly and its effect appeared stronger at the north-west of the bay than at the south mouth of the bay. In addition, the effect of the wind tended to increase with distance from the east to the west. Therefore, the tidal currents in Gamak Bay proved to be strongly influenced by the wind, in particular east-westward. However, some measures are urgently required to improve the water quality of the bay, since the south-northward flow turned out to be obstructed by an east-westward shoal located in the middle of the bay.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.529-556
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• 2010

This paper investigates the correlation of wind characteristics monitored on a cable-stayed bridge. Total five anemoscopes are implemented into the bridge. Two out of 5 anemoscopes in inflow and two out of 5 anemoscopes in wake-flow along the longitudinal direction of the bridge are installed. Four anemoscopes are respectively distributed at two cross-sections. Another anemoscope is installed at the top of the tower. The correlation of mean wind speed and direction, power spectral density, the turbulent intensity and integral length of wind in flow at two cross-sections are investigated. In addition, considering the non-stationary characteristics of wind, the spatial correlation in time-frequency is analyzed using wavelet transform and different phenomenon from those obtained through FFT is observed. The time-frequency analysis further indicates that intermittence, coherence structures and self-similar structures are distinctly observed from fluctuant wind. The flow characteristics around the bridge deck at two positions are also investigated using the field measurement. The results indicate that the mean wind speed decrease when the flow passing through the deck, but the turbulence intensity become much larger and the turbulence integral lengths become much smaller compared with those of inflow. The relationship of RMS (root mean square) of wake-flow and the mean wind speed of inflow is approximately linear. The special structures of wake-flow in time-frequency domain are also analyzed using wavelet transform, which aids to reveal the forming process of wake-flow.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2020

Downbursts are acknowledged for being a major loading hazard for horizontally-extending structures like transmission line systems. With these structures being inherently flexible, it is important to characterize the turbulence associated with the wind flow of downburst events being essential to quantify dynamic excitations on structures. Accordingly, the current study numerically characterizes the downburst wind field of open terrain simulated at the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) dome testing facility at The University of Western Ontario in Canada through a high-resolution large eddy simulation (LES). The study validates the numerical simulation considering both the mean and the turbulent components of the flow. It then provides a detailed visual description of the flow at WindEEE through the capabilities enabled by LES to identify the key factors affecting the flow. The study also presents the spatial distribution of turbulence intensities and length scales computed from the numerical model and compares them with previous values reported in the literature. The comparison shows the ability of the downburst simulated at WindEEE to reproduce turbulence characteristics similar to those reported from field measurements. The study also indicates that downburst turbulence is well-correlated circumferentially which imposes high correlated loads on horizontally-distributed structures such as transmission lines.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.541-563
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• 2014

This paper investigates the topographic effects on wind characteristics over hilly terrain, based on wind data recorded at a number of meteorological stations in or near complex terrain. The multiply data sources allow a more detailed investigation of the flow field than is normally possible. Vertical profiles of mean and turbulent wind components from a Sodar profiler were presented and then modeled as functions of height and wind speed. The correlations between longitudinal and vertical wind components were discussed. The phenomena of flow separation and generation of vortices were observed. The distance-dependence of the topographic effects on gust factors was revealed subsequently. Furthermore, the canyon effect was identified and discussed based on the observations of wind at a saddle point between two mountain peaks. This study aims to further understanding of the characteristics of surface wind over rugged terrain. The presented results are expected to be useful for structural design, prevention of pollutant dispersion, and validation of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) models or techniques over complex terrains.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2005

A fundamental understanding of the flow around the wind turbine is important to investigate the performance of new type of wind turbine. This study presents the simulation of three dimensional flow fields around the Darius wind turbine as an example. Incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are used for this simulation. The rotating coordinate system that rotates in the same speed of the turbine is used in order to simplify the boundary condition on the blades. Additionally, the boundary fitted coordinate system is employed in order to express the shape of the blades precisely. Fractional step method is used to solve the basic equations. Third order upwind scheme is chosen for the approximation of the non-linear terms since it can compute the flow field stably even at high Reynolds number without any turbulence models. The flow fields obtained in this study are highly complex due to the three dimensionality and are visualized effectively by using the technique of the computer graphics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.59-64
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• 2018

Numerical simulations were carried out to analyze the flow characteristics of the wind tunnel. Flow field characteristics with velocity uniformity at the test sections are largely affected by inlet conditions of air flow rate and temperature. Axial average velocity of the flow field inside the test area was almost linearly decreased by 0.026% each 1m. The uniformity distributions of axial velocity showed the highest reduction rate of about 24% between nozzle outlets 1 ~ 2m. In addition, average velocity and the uniformity are increased with air temperature in the wind tunnel due to density variation. The results of this paper are expected to be useful for the basic design of wind tunnel and to be used for efficient design.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2008.07a
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• pp.211-212
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• 2008

As a result of environmental concerns, the production of electricity through renewable energy resources is rapidly increasing. Wind energy is among the fastest growing renewable energy resources now being integrated in the power system, and the penetration rate of wind generation has been gradually increased. For power flow analysis of the recent systems, thus, steady-state modeling of wind turbines and their application are of great importance. This paper presents the procedure we applied for implementation of a steady-state wind turbine model in power flow.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2008

The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS) analysis of the 3-D steady flow around the NREL Phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine(HAWT) rotor was performed. The CFD analysis results were compared with experimental data at several different wind speeds. The present CFD model shows good agreements with the experiments both at low wind speed which formed well-attache flow mostly on the upper surface of the blade, and at high wind speed which blade surface flow completely separated. However, some discrepancy occurs at the relatively high wind speeds where mixed attached and separated flow formed on the suction surface of the blade. It seems that the discrepancy is related to the onset of stall phenomena and consequently separation prediction capability of the current turbulence model. It is also found that strong span-wise flow occurs in stalled area due to the centrifugal force generated by rotation of the turbine rotor and it prevents abrupt reduction of normal force for higher wind speed than the designed value.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.219-237
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• 2009

This study examines the accuracy of large-eddy simulation (LES) to simulate the flow around a large irregular sloping complex terrain. Typically, real built up environments are surrounded by complex terrain geometries with many features. The complex terrain surrounding The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology campus was modelled and the flow over an uphill slope was simulated. The simulated results, including mean velocity profiles and turbulence intensities, were compared with the flow characteristics measured in a wind tunnel model test. Given the size of the domain and the corresponding constraints on the resolution of the simulation, the mean velocity components within the boundary layer flow, especially in the stream-wise direction were found to be reasonably well replicated by the LES. The turbulence intensity values were found to differ from the wind tunnel results in the building recirculation zones, mostly due to the constraints placed on spatial and temporal resolutions. Based on the validated mean velocity profile results, the flow-structure interactions around these buildings and the surrounding terrain were examined.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2013

The performance of the wind turbine is determined by wind speed and unsteady flow characteristics. Unsteady wake flow causes not only the decline in performance but also structural problems of the wind turbine. In this paper, conceptual designs for the wind turbine tower are conducted to minimize unsteady wake flow. Numerical simulations are performed to inspect the shape effect of the tower. Through the installation of additional structures at the rear of the tower, the creation of Karman vortex is delayed properly and vortex interactions are reduced extremely, which enhance the stability of the wind turbine. From the comparative analysis of lift and drag coefficients for each structure, it is concluded that two streamwise tips with a splitter plate have the most improved aerodynamic characteristics in stabilizing wake flow.